Technical foul: Knicks pull posters deemed sexist

Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories and amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin.

“Forget chicks, watch the Knicks.” That’s the best summary I’ve come across describing at least one of the posters that’s part of a controversial new campaign by the New York basketball franchise. The ad in question reads:

"It's Friday night. You can either go out and attempt to pick up sixes and sevens or stay home and watch (Jason) Kidd dish out dimes."

Another takes an insensitive shot at the injured actors of Broadway’s "Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark." All of the posters associated with the campaign have since been removed, but as both Yahoo Sports! and ESPN.com note, it is somewhat ironic, given that the team’s parent organization shares its own past of sexual harassment claims and injured players.

It makes me slightly anxious to see what the team rolls out at the start of the 2014 season, when ads will be allowed on NBA jerseys.

Meanwhile, as Brad Pitt stinks up the advertising market with his much-parodied endorsement of Chanel No. 5, the product itself is causing waves overseas. European scientists are calling for a ban on the celebrity-touted scent, as well as others, because of research showing that its key ingredients might cause allergies.

Although I don’t recall the company ever using French maids, Spirit Airlines is no stranger to provocative, gimmicky, pun-filled and sometimes controversial marketing strategies. However, its critics on Twitter have put the carrier on blast for the company’s “Romney Wins!” email distributed Tuesday, ahead of official election results.

Media publication Businessweek is also garnering some post-election talk thanks to the cover of its next issue. Featuring a digitally aged headshot of President Obama alongside the headline, “The Next Four Years,” the accompanying story details the road ahead for the commander-in-chief. Had the election gone the other way, however, the magazine had also prepared a Romney cover. See both of them here.

While I can’t help but imagine that releasing both cover images was a promotional ploy on Businessweek’s part, at least the upshot isn’t costing them anything. That’s more than can be said for one Subway shop. As illustrated by this picture of the restaurant’s banner, someone’s unfortunate math error resulted in offering consumers who ordered a six-inch sub a second one for less than a penny— “¢.99”—rather than the 99 cents it intended.

As for movie promotions, Forbes outlines how your brand might score a killer partnership at the box office.

Marmite is one of those foods that might be a favorite of some, but for others, is a taste they simply can’t acquire. That’s the concept behind an interactive holiday installation on London’s Oxford Street being produced by DDB London and Grand Visual. To take part, participants are asked to upload photos to the brand’s Facebook page giving their best "love it or hate it" expressions for the savory spread.

I’m not sure what the concept behind this new app is other than making my day as well as that of other “Star Trek” nerds. I give you, Shatoetry, the official William Shatner iPhone app, in which users can harness the actor’s famous voice in their very hands.